As a baby, you entered the world unwanted. If you had any doubts about that as you got older they were erased by the knowledge that your mother “gave you away” to be raised by a fellow stripper with a long history of drug and alcohol abuse. So it’s true; she really didn’t give a **** about you. You tell yourself you’re glad you never knew her. Does it stop the pain?

You grow up in a house where violence is a part of every day. You learn to give and take suffering and live with the threat of unpredictable cruelty. You learn to function without feeling. You know nothing else. Everyone in your home uses drugs and alcohol to numb their pain; they’re all too self-absorbed, wrapped up with their own problems, to care. You quickly learn that no-one else is going to help you; you’re on your own. Does it feel lonely?… Read more